News Round-up Week Ending 12 June

June 12, 2015

June 12, 2015

Christopher Lee Dies Aged 93

Horror icon, screen legend, and last of the great gentlemen actors, Sir Christopher Lee passed away aged 93 at 8:30am on Sunday at London’s Chelsea and Westminster Hospital where sources have said he was being treated for respiratory problems and heart failure.

Perhaps best known to horror fans for his many appearances in Hammer Studios productions, where he found fame for his commanding portrayal of Dracula, Lee will also be remembered for a long screen career that saw him inhabit many other iconic roles such as Lord Summerisle in the cult British film The Wicker Man, Scaramanga in James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun, in later years as the villainous wizard Saruman in Peter Jackson’s productions of The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit, and as Sith lord Count Dooku in two Star Wars prequels.

A man with as fascinating a history off-screen as on, Lee was knighted in 2009 for his contribution to film, and went on to be awarded a BAFTA Fellowship in 2011 as well as picking up a BFI Fellowship two years later.

A sore loss to the world of horror, and indeed the world of film at large, Christopher is survived by his wife of fifty years Gitte and their daughter Christina.

Sir Christopher Lee: May 27 1922–June 7 2015.

Horror Films To Be Screened At Edinburgh International Film Festival 2015 Announced

Full details have been announced for this year’s edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival which runs from 17-28 June. Within the multitude of treats on offer there are a bunch of horror related films to be screened that include: an international premiere of the Arnold Schwarzenegger zombie drama Maggie, Tobe Hooper’s classic TV movie Salem’s Lot, the international premiere of Cop Car, the European premiere of Parasyte: Part 1, UK premieres of Dead Rising: Watchtower, The Hallow, Hellion, the Houses That October Built. You can find all of the details of the event, as well as download the full programme brochure, at Ed Film Fest.

First Artwork For Fear The Walking Dead Released

The first piece of artwork for The Walking Dead spin-off series ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ has been released and can be seen below. Set to premiere this summer in the US on AMC, and with the first season consisting of six one-hour episodes, the new series is set to take place in Los Angeles and focuses on new characters and storylines. Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, Greg Nicotero, and David Alpert from The Walking Dead are executive producers of the new series, which, like the original, is being produced by AMC Studios. Dave Erickson (Marco Polo, Sons of Anarchy), who co-created and co-wrote the pilot with Kirkman, is an executive producer and showrunner. The main cast includes Cliff Curtis, Ruben Blades, Kim Dickens, Alycia Debnam Carey, Mercedes Mason and Frank Dillane.

JASON HICKS

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